What Lily Is Reading Now

[mllelaurel]

As per usual, I'm reading a number of books all at the same time.

Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett (60/213 pages)
Pratchett is a joy, as usual, but I really, really wish he would use chapters. Call me anal-retentive, but I like set breaks in my reading. It doesn't mean I'll necessarily stop at the chapter break - and it's a testament to a good book when I don't - but I like having the option. This is an early book, so Granny Weatherwax isn't yet the grand dame/force of nature she will become, but she's still Granny Weatherwax, which is reason enough to read.

The Ghost in Love, by Jonathan Carroll (124/308 pages)
I've heard this one recommended up and down, but so far I'm not feeling it. Oh, it's brilliantly creative, I'm not arguing that, but the characters...oy. Ben seems like a good guy, but so far, all he's done is react rather than act. And at this point in time, I fucking can't stand German. Sure, running away when presented with weirdness is a normal human response, but it doesn't make one a worthy protagonist. In fact, her ordinariness seems to be her defining trait. Bleh. That's actually the problem right there: the protagonists aren't protagging. No real opinion on Ling/the ghost yet. I miss the Angel of Death, though. He was cool.

Melting Stones, by Tamora Pierce (61/312 pages)
Light, pleasant fare. Sure, I can see what's going on way ahead of the characters, but this is a case that can be chalked up to their inexperience with the phenomenon in question rather than the Idiot Ball. This book is the direct opposite of The Ghost in Love in that the premise is not at all new, but the characters are lively and lovable.

Comments

[trialia]

Hee. Don't spoil me for Melting Stones, okay hun? I have yet to be able to get hold of a non-audiobook copy...

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

I promise if I'm going to be posting any spoilers - about this book or others - they'll be under a cut. Also, I'm really lucky for my library system. It kicks ASS!

[ryenna.livejournal.com]

Have I been hallucinating chapters in my Pratchett? Or maybe he started sticking them in later on?

Also, I found it really interesting to listen to Melting Stones first, then read it when the book came out afterwards. I'm not a fan of all the voice actors in the Full Cast Audio version, but it did make for a very different experience. I think it also made the book very different from some of the other Circle books in that since it was written to be told aloud first, the text was arranged for maximum audio impact.

Were I still in academia, I might have tried to make a paper of it.

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

His later works may have chapters (if so, that would make me happy). I'm still skipping around the early part of the series.

I haven't heard the audio version yet. Who-all in the cast did you feel was off?

[ryenna.livejournal.com]

It's been a while, so I don't think I can pinpoint who it was, it was just every so often the way something was said would irk me, or I'd feel like a manner of speech was a little TOO exaggerated. Pierce loves them, though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. She specifically released Melting Stones on audio first to try and bring attention to the company.

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I've had the same problem with other audio books in the past. Something about the format just brings it out in the actors. (I also get frustrated that the read-out-loud speed is a great deal slower than my own preferred reading pace, but that's a separate issue.)

[ryenna.livejournal.com]

Then I will take this opportunity to talk up Playaways. They're little MP3 players with a single book loaded on them and I love them. The reason I mention them is that you can speed them up and slow them down without changing the pitch of the recording. Doesn't help with the occasional acting issue, but it does help with the speed.

[nevacaruso.livejournal.com]

Equal Rites = awesomesauce. I'm sorry to hear that The Ghost in Love was disappointing - it looked supercool. :( I do, however, love your use of "protag" as a verb.

[mllelaurel.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not done with Ghost in Love yet. There's still time for it to redeem itself (or, more accurately, for the leads to redeem themselves.) That's pretty much why I included page counts - so that people could take my opinion with a grain of salt. On the other hand, said opinion could also be entirely accurate. I finished Melting Stones last night and I stand by everything I said here.